Just when you thought the news about HP couldn't get any more interesting, we hear that Samsung may be preparing to buy HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), the company's computer division. According to Digitimes, Samsung has already spoken with the likes of Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, and Pegatron Technology, each based in Taiwan, to determine if the companies could handle outsourcing orders from Samsung for notebooks.
The Digitimes piece quotes a source within the "upstream supply chain" as saying that Samsung may rely on the three companies to provide a small volume of orders for notebook components. Both Compal Electronics and Quanta Computer currently manufacture HP devices, so Samsung's decision to speak with the companies makes sense if it is looking for partners to help it meet HP's current 40 million unit shipment volume.
Meanwhile, Jack Shofield over at ZDNet, points out that Samsung seems to be the only tech company that stands to benefit from acquiring HP's PSG. Samsung, he writes, is currently the world's largest consumer electronics manufacturer, and a successful notebook supplier, but despite all that, the company is still not one of the top five notebook manufacturers and has a relatively small computer operation in the U.S. With that in mind, scooping up HP would seem to be the most logical step for a company seeking to increase its market share in the notebook business.
